We Believe In Sports

In Episode 11 of #WeBelieveInSports, Michael Eady is joined by Cat Whitehill, a former professional soccer player and a 10-year Veteran of the U.S. Women’s National Team. While a part of the team from 2000-2011, she played for the U.S. in the Women’s World Cup in 2003 and 2007 and was a member of the Olympic Gold Medal winning team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Most recently, Cat joined the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Listen in as Cat talks through what it was like to play in the FIFA World Cup, her advocacy for women's equality and opportunity and how she uses her platform for change.

In episode 10 of #WeBelieveInSports, Michael Eady is joined by Martin Newton, the Director of Athletics at Samford University. Martin worked in sports marketing for Converse for 13 years and then spent 13 years in a similar capacity at Nike. Prior to returning to his alma mater in March of 2011 as the Director of Athletics, Martin spent a few years as the Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Kentucky. Listen in as Martin talks through his Dad, C.M. Newton, and the significant impact he had on providing athletic opportunities for African-Americans in the South, and the incredible successes he has created for Samford athletics.

In episode 9 of #webelieveinsports, Michael Eady is joined by Head of Strategy and Audience Development at Front Office Sports Edgar Walker. Front Office Sports is a digital media outlet covering the collision of business and sports, which has quickly grown into one of the preeminent sources for sports business news and analysis. Before joining Front Office Sports in April, Edgar was operating The Gameplan Group — an investment and advisory firm he launched in 2019 — and had previously spent two-plus years with Bleacher Report as the lead data analyst for the B/R app. Listen in as Edgar talks through launching and later selling a grassroots basketball scouting and events business at the age of 17, and the importance of continued skill development for those looking to expand their career path.

In episode eight, Michael Eady is joined by Bobby Basham of the Chicago Cubs. Bobby has been a member of the Cubs front office since 2012 when he first joined the organization as a Major League Scouting Coordinator. Since then, he’s held a variety of roles. Today, as the Director of Player Development, Bobby manages the Cubs Minor League System as well as leading internal innovation, business development, and technology exploration efforts for the baseball operations department. Prior to the Cubs, Bobby had both a seven-year minor league baseball career with the Reds and Padres and worked in the healthcare industry as a product manager. He graduated from the University of Richmond as a two-sport Division I athlete and later earned his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Listen in as Bobby shares his passion for sports and how that passion has gotten him where he is today.

On episode seven of #webelieveinsports, Dr. Julian Maha, co-founder of KultureCity, sits down with us to talk about how sports have played a role in growing KultureCity to become the nation's leading nonprofit on sensory accessibility and acceptance for all with invisible disabilities, including those with autism, military vets with PTSD, adults with dementia, Parkinson's disease, stroke patients and more. Since its inception, KultureCity has worked with hundreds of venues including stadiums, arenas, zoos, aquariums, museums, and most recently cruise ships. KultureCity has been named one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies in the World” and over the past four years has helped over 250,000 people coast to coast. Take a listen as Julian talks through his mission to create acceptance, not just awareness, for those with invisible disabilities and how he has used sports to accomplish that goal.

On our sixth episode of We Believe in Sports, our host, Michael Eady, is joined by Wendell Hudson, the first All-American and the Crimson Tide’s first black scholarship athlete. During his time playing for the Crimson Tide, Wendell became the university’s first SEC Player of the Year. He was voted Most Valuable Player in the SEC two consecutive years (1972-73) and was named first-team All-American in 1973. After his time at the University of Alabama, Wendell was drafted in the second round of the 1973 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls and went on to play in the ABA, the American Basketball Association, for the Memphis Tams. Simply put, Wendell is no stranger to making history, both on and off the basketball court, and has been opening doors for many generations. Listen in as Michael Eady sits down and talks about the power of sports and how it had an impact in Wendell’s life, both on and off the court.

This week on #WeBelieveInSports our host, Michael Eady, is joined by Executive Director of the Lutzie 43 Foundation, Mike Lutzenkirchen. Mike is the father of the late Philip Lutzenkirchen, a former Auburn University student-athlete from 2009-2012 who was tragically killed as a passenger in a distracted and impaired driving accident in 2014. Alongside his family, Mike created the Lutzie 43 Foundation as a way to spread awareness of the dangers of distracted and impaired driving and to inspire young people to make better decisions as drivers and friends, using Philip’s life and legacy to inspire change. Mike sits down with us to share how sports had an impact on Philip’s life, his own and now the foundation as a whole.

On the fourth episode of #WeBelieveInSports, we are joined by ESPN SEC Network's Ben May. Ben has been in and around the sports industry for over 35 years and is currently overseeing the Southeastern Conference's official corporate sponsorship program for ESPN in conjunction with the SEC Network. He is responsible for representing conference assets to corporate America through multi-platform opportunities, including conference intellectual property rights and event marketing, broadcast, television, digital, social, and mobile applications. Take a listen as Ben shares how he has seen the power of sports shape the lives of those around him.

In episode three of #WeBelieveInSports our host Michael Eady is joined by Jonathan Nelson, General Manager of the Birmingham Barons. Jonathan is starting his 17th season with the Barons and his 28th in professional baseball. Over the years, Jonathan has experienced a lot- from when he first started with the Barons interning in ‘93, to Michael Jordan's iconic ‘94 season with the Barons, to the Baron's move to downtown Birmingham and the new Regions Field. Settle in as Jonathan dives into how the power of sports took him from being an intern, a mascot and a ballpark cook to being the General Manager of one of Birmingham's most beloved teams.

Our host Michael Eady sits down with Craig Annis from the United States Golf Association for episode two of the We Believe in Sports Podcast. Craig was recently named the USGA's Chief Brand Officer, taking the lead on strategies focused on driving a positive effect on brand engagement and business growth. He and his teams oversee many aspects of the USGA brand including media relations, website content, social media strategy, community relations, marketing, and notably strategies for the U.S. Open Championship. After getting to know Craig through our relationship with him at Knight Eady, it was clear that he shares a similar philosophy behind his belief in sports. His passion for sports is evident not only when discussing the game of golf, but also when chatting about all things NHL, promoting women's sports and also being a dad. We sat down with Craig to unpack what the power of sports means from his perspective, including how that power is found in the game of golf and the industry as a whole.

In the first episode of We Believe In Sports, we sit down with legendary sports reporter and storyteller, Tom Rinaldi, who has had the greatest seat to some of the best moments in sports. In this episode, Tom speaks specifically about the essence of what it's like to be so intimately involved in some of the biggest sporting events the world consumes. Our guest host, Jeremy Carter, takes us through and has a unique opportunity to peel back the curtain and hear Tom's perspective on the true power of sports.

Before we release the first full episode of We Believe In Sports, Katie Jernigan, VP of Strategy at Knight Eady, takes some time to share timely, poignant thoughts about how, in the midst of a global pandemic, it feels like we need sports now more than ever, but why we must be willing to step aside and let the real MVPs of this moment take the field.